Man pleads guilty in 2007 Ettrick slaying

The second of two gunmen who robbed and fatally shot a newly retired Philip Morris employee in his Ettrick-area home two years ago has been sentenced to 28 years in prison after pleading guilty to murder and other charges.

Stanley E. Jones, 19, was convicted Friday of second-degree murder, robbery and using a firearm in a felony in the Aug. 28, 2007, holdup and slaying of Ronnie Sylvester Gordon, 55, who was in the first year of retirement from a three-decade career with Philip Morris.

He was killed for $30 to $50 in cash.

Jones, who lived in Colonial Heights at the time of his arrest, opted to plead guilty just four days before his three-day jury trial was to have started today in Chesterfield County Circuit Court. He is the third of four defendants to be tried and sentenced.

According to evidence, Jones, Monteze D. Rawlings, Shimekia N. Thorpe and Nelson D. Dunston went to Gordon's home in the 19500 block of Temple Avenue in Ettrick late on the evening of Aug. 28, expecting to find as much as $8,000 in cash.

Dunston's uncle also lived at the house, and "according to most accounts [Dunston] is the one who directed" the co-defendants to rob Gordon, said Senior Chief Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Kenneth E. Nickels. But fearing he would be recognized, Dunston stayed in a car while the other three burst through a screen door and rushed into the house.

Rawlings was armed with a .380-caliber pistol, Jones with a .25-caliber semiautomatic. They demanded money and forced Gordon, Dunston's uncle and two other occupants to lie on the floor.

It's unclear who fired first, but evidence showed that Rawlings shot Gordon twice -- one round penetrated both lungs and his heart, and the second pierced his colon. Jones shot Gordon once in the buttocks, Nickels said.

"He was dead within a matter of minutes," the prosecutor said.

In addition to the cash, the assailants made off with Gordon's cell phone.

Five suspects were arrested within days. Charges against Dennis G. Epps, 18, were soon dropped after authorities determined he wasn't with the others at the time of the robbery and killing.

Rawlings, of Petersburg, pleaded guilty Sept. 11 to first-degree murder and other charges and was sentenced to serve 36 years in prison. Dunston, also of Petersburg, pleaded no contest Aug. 21 to a charge that he robbed Gordon and was sentenced to six years.

Thorpe is to be tried Aug. 29.

According to a victim impact statement read out loud during an earlier court proceeding, Gordon was a peacemaker in a large family and was so beloved that a place was set for him at Sunday dinners even after his death -- at least until a favorite niece couldn't stand the reminder of his loss any longer.

Gordon attended Union Grove Baptist Church on Church Road in Matoaca.

"He sang at the choir at his church and he would come over [to his sister's house] for Sunday dinner," Nickels said. "That was their weekly get-together after church."

Contact Mark Bowes at (804) 649-6450 or .